diy solar

diy solar

Solar panel mounting on RV

Before I put the panels up, I mounted the LV6548 and the solar switch. I also wired in a male and female extension cord for testing.
 

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The panels have no problem powering my corded drill or a heat gun. But no batteries yet….. I bought 10 of the 350 watt Rec panels from Santan Solar, but could only fit 6. Kind of a bummer, but 2100 watts make me happy.
 
Kind of late, maybe it will help someone else that is interested in doing something similar. This is how I did my unistrut/mounting bracket. This keeps the panel low and very easy to get to the mounting bolts. Yes, the unistrut is laying on the roof, but the roof isn't perfectly flat, and has plenty of places for drainage.

150ft of unistrut, screwed to the rafters with 1/4" SS lags.
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4x RivNuts per panel.
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Brackets bolted to the unistrut, then into the side of the panels. This allowed the edge of the panel to be even with the edge of the roof too, and allowed 3 panels wide in places that allowed. This bracket i designed also has a place to step at the top, so I can walk the full length of the roof without stepping on a panel.
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All 12 mounted, with room for 2 more if I get bored.
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Kind of late, maybe it will help someone else that is interested in doing something similar. This is how I did my unistrut/mounting bracket. This keeps the panel low and very easy to get to the mounting bolts. Yes, the unistrut is laying on the roof, but the roof isn't perfectly flat, and has plenty of places for drainage.

150ft of unistrut, screwed to the rafters with 1/4" SS lags.
View attachment 51412

4x RivNuts per panel.
View attachment 51413

Brackets bolted to the unistrut, then into the side of the panels. This allowed the edge of the panel to be even with the edge of the roof too, and allowed 3 panels wide in places that allowed. This bracket i designed also has a place to step at the top, so I can walk the full length of the roof without stepping on a panel.
View attachment 51414

All 12 mounted, with room for 2 more if I get bored.
View attachment 51415
Great system!

What panels are you using? Most panels I looked at are 40 inches wide - and the RVs are usually 88-102 inches wide.
Yours seem to be a good use of the space.
 
I’m envious of all that flat unobstructed space. @eXodus, I went with the Longi panels, they’re 39” wide and fit perfectly between the edge and vents. They won’t fit beside the AC though.
 
I’m envious of all that flat unobstructed space. @eXodus, I went with the Longi panels, they’re 39” wide and fit perfectly between the edge and vents. They won’t fit beside the AC though.
Do you got a picture of your mount?
 
Kind of late, maybe it will help someone else that is interested in doing something similar. This is how I did my unistrut/mounting bracket. This keeps the panel low and very easy to get to the mounting bolts. Yes, the unistrut is laying on the roof, but the roof isn't perfectly flat, and has plenty of places for drainage.

150ft of unistrut, screwed to the rafters with 1/4" SS lags.
View attachment 51412

4x RivNuts per panel.
View attachment 51413

Brackets bolted to the unistrut, then into the side of the panels. This allowed the edge of the panel to be even with the edge of the roof too, and allowed 3 panels wide in places that allowed. This bracket i designed also has a place to step at the top, so I can walk the full length of the roof without stepping on a panel.
View attachment 51414

All 12 mounted, with room for 2 more if I get bored.
View attachment 51415

Rivnuts are a good idea and I want thinking long and hard about doing exactly what you did but the only thing that steered me away was the panel warranty. Probably not a big deal as once they get on the roof working not likely to fail; and if they do it's usually from something not covered, but is what it is.

Not sure why the manufactures don't give us more hole options to do this!
 
Great system!

What panels are you using? Most panels I looked at are 40 inches wide - and the RVs are usually 88-102 inches wide.
Yours seem to be a good use of the space.
I called up SanTan Solar and asked them if they had any panels under 33" (which is the distance from my AC to edge of roof), and they had these Sunpower 240w E19 panels that were 32" Wide. They were used, and only $80, for a super high quality panel.

Rivnuts are a good idea and I want thinking long and hard about doing exactly what you did but the only thing that steered me away was the panel warranty. Probably not a big deal as once they get on the roof working not likely to fail; and if they do it's usually from something not covered, but is what it is.

Not sure why the manufactures don't give us more hole options to do this!
Panel warranty didnt have me too concerned because mine were used anyways. But I did notice that the frame was double walled, so I had to drill through 2 pieces of aluminum to put the RivNut in. But they are very very strong. My buddy said the only way these are coming off, is if the whole roof comes with it!
 
Here is a final picture of my mounted panels. I will continue to post here the rest of my build.
 

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Here is a final picture of my mounted panels. I will continue to post here the rest of my build.
Looks great !....got to love those Angle washers ! Don't remember ever seeing them before...
Bet your glad those panels are done.?
 
My battery cells arrived today! Of course I work my 48 hour shift and don’t get off until Saturday morning! But here are a few pictures:
 

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I got off work Saturday morning and picked up the 5th wheel at the storage lot and brought it home. I had a vacation planned to take the camper on a week long trip to the lake starting on Sunday. I was in a time crunch but wanted to check out the batteries and my solar setup.

I opened set up the battery cells on a shelf and measured them for a temporary clamp so I could try and use them. I ordered a set of aluminum plates from @Lt.Dan from the forum but I waited too long to order them, so they weren’t here yet.

I had the all thread and nuts and bolts, so I trimmed some old scrap pieces of wood and fashioned some temporary boards to use in place of the aluminum plates. I bought some peel and stick 12” vinyl tiles and cut them in 1/4s and used them as spacers for the cells and the wood clamps.
 

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I put a piece of plywood on the floor of the front trunk area below the pin box and put the clamps and the cells together. Then I put ring terminals on the BMS leads and heat shrinked them on. Then I put the bus bars on and used some copper for the long sections, and put the battery together.

I used a section of 6-3 wire to connect the LV 6548 to a sub panel and ran a 6 awg jumper to connect both bus bars in the panel as I will be powering my 50amp RV with the single phase. I figured if Will Prowse did the same in his trailer build, I’d try as well!
 

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I had some issues getting the Daly BMS to turn on, but figured it out. After getting the shunt, fuse, and battery switch installed, I had power. It only took about 12 hours, lol! But I had no solar because it was dark. I powered the system with an extension cord and seeing it all light up and operate was amazing! I had to secure everything and then shop for all my groceries, food and beer, load the camper, and head up to the lake. We got up to the lake at 8:30pm on Sunday. I had the system installed, but not top balanced.
 

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With a 5amp bench charger, I figured it would take forever to get the cells top balanced. So I will use the cells this week and charge them up in series with a BMS and then take the battery apart when I get home and do a top balance. I will need to take it apart anyway to use the aluminum plates that are on order.

I have been able to use the system to run the air conditioners as a test for about 10 minutes, and as I type this, I have had power the entire day! The LV 6548 reports that the solar panels added 8kw of power. I did have some issues today with the the cell voltages we’re fluctuating with one cell always the highest, but also when under load, always the lowest??? I checked it with a multimeter and it was actually spot of with the others??? After some investigation, I found the screws weren’t tight on that cell! So now seems to be all systems normal! Here is my current power:
 

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I’m leaving the system powering the RV all night in hopes I use some power up, because I need the battery to drain some so that I can stress my solar system. I have 6 350 panels and the highest PV input I saw all day was 850 watts. It’s 100 degrees and clear blue skies and i’m wondering if the MPPT is throttling then back due to the battery voltage being so high. I’ll also climb on the roof and check my voltages and connections.
 
This morning, battery is doing great and we have run the AC, microwave, Kuerig coffee machine and have the tv on. Solar is adding power. Here is what is looks like:
 

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